For my composition class, I was assigned to write a brief essay about a specific discourse community, and I chose to focus on the online vegan community (the PPK specifically). I would really appreciate it if some of you would be able to answer a few questions and allow me to use your responses as sources for my research. If I do choose to use one of your responses as a reference, I will PM you because I will just need your full name for the essay citation. Thanks so much for your help, everyone!

Here are some questions that I am looking to address in my essay. Feel free to answer any/all of them:

1. What about the PPK specifically do you think has helped make it such a popular forum and online community for vegans?

2. What role do you think the PPK community has had either in our own personal social life or for vegans in general?

3. Do you believe that the PPK has shaped the vegan community's collective identity?

4. How has the vegan community benefited from the expansion of online forums and social media?

1. What about the PPK specifically do you think has helped make it such a popular forum and online community for vegans?

2. What role do you think the PPK community has had either in our own personal social life or for vegans in general?

3. Do you believe that the PPK has shaped the vegan community's collective identity?

4. How has the vegan community benefited from the expansion of online forums and social media?

5. What are some shared values of members of the PPK?

1. the Veganomicon - like its namesake the message it conveys is that power is not given, it is inherent and acknowledged from within. It was a beacon that drew me to others and gave us all something delicious in common - a vehicle to discover what else we might (and might not) share.

2. It is a lot like high school/college/life- if you can avoid the bullies, what you learn will propel you forward... and in the process you sometimes find a group that you fit in with to pass the time.

3. The Vegan Community does not have a collective identity. It is as diverse as any other group that only has one thing in common... just ask Ingrid Newkirk.

4. I believe anything that increases awareness of the horror that results from the brain-washed consumption of tortured animals brings the Vegan Community closer to its one and only common goal. Sharing our outrage, joy and recipes reassures us that we are not alone.

I am not at all a spammer. While I do not post regularly, I have been a member of the PPK for years and read the forums regularly. The reason that I have chosen to focus my essay on the PPK is exactly because I am familiar with it and it has played an significant role in my own veganism. I am simply hoping to get some other perspectives.

If you still do not wish to help me by responding to these questions, I completely understand, but please do not think that I am some spammer on here trying to waste everyone's time.

1. What about the PPK specifically do you think has helped make it such a popular forum and online community for vegans?There's an air of openness and like it's okay to ask questions and not be perfect. Isa and Terry are just punkrock girls who had their own cable access show, and I think that being the foundation of this community makes it special.

2. What role do you think the PPK community has had either in our own personal social life or for vegans in general?The PPK has been a huge part of my growth as a human over the last 5 years, and I've made a lot of personal discoveries through conversations I've had here. And I've met a lot of people from it in real life, so that's cool, too.

3. Do you believe that the PPK has shaped the vegan community's collective identity?oh, for sure. Even people who I know who are not members of the forum have heard of it. I once had a server at a restaurant comment when I was wearing a PPK shirt: "That's so cool! I love the PPK!"

4. How has the vegan community benefited from the expansion of online forums and social media?It's made it literally so easy to connect with people who share some of the same values as you. Being vegan before the advent of the internet/social media would have been a far more isolating time.

5. What are some shared values of members of the PPK?I think the PPK represents a group of people who are generally very left-leaning, secular, knowledge-seeking folks. And of course, the unifying idea that veganism is a worthwhile undertaking for a variety of reasons.

_________________Did you notice the slight feeling of panic at the words "Chicken Basin Street"? Like someone was walking over your grave? Try not to remember. We must never remember. - mumblesIs this about devilberries and nazifruit again? - footface

1. What about the PPK specifically do you think has helped make it such a popular forum and online community for vegans?I think the PPK is fairly open and welcoming. I think it is also generally welcoming toward new vegans and non-vegans that want to learn about and incorporate aspects of a vegan lifestyle. I also think the phrase 'progress not perfection' embodies a lot of the PPK because people recognize that 'vegan purity' is truly a myth but we can do our best to be as vegan as possible. It is also about sharing good recipes and various aspects of our lives.

2. What role do you think the PPK community has had either in our own personal social life or for vegans in general?I don't know about vegans in general but I've met a lot of good friends here. I think being vegan can feel isolating sometimes and having an online community helps you feel connected.

3. Do you believe that the PPK has shaped the vegan community's collective identity?I don't think there is a collective identity. Vegans are diverse but I think it is a useful resource out there for anyone to use.

4. How has the vegan community benefited from the expansion of online forums and social media?I think what I stated above about veganism sometimes feeling isolating as well as not knowing how to handle certain situations, especially as a new vegan, online communities can help provide support and information. Also just being a resource is useful. I lurked on the PPK for a good year while I wasn't even thinking of becoming vegan, I just wanted to cook more plant-based foods. Without the PPK though, I'm not sure how successful I would've been at going vegan or even staying vegan. Plus good recipes, people like good recipes if they want to learn how to cook vegan foods.

5. What are some shared values of members of the PPK?I think members of the ppk are generally open to discourse, being vegan and a willingness to help others be vegan. We also just generally love good food. I appreciate that the ppk rejects a lot of 'crazy' that you can see out there promoted by various vegans and an understanding that people here are diverse and may not share the same experiences.

_________________You are all a disgrace to vegans. Go f*ck yourselves, especially linanil.

1. What about the PPK specifically do you think has helped make it such a popular forum and online community for vegans?

For me, it's how open the community is. People here are very welcoming. Also, we are not the vegan police. There's much more acceptance here that, though we are almsot all vegans, people are doing their best.

2. What role do you think the PPK community has had either in our own personal social life or for vegans in general?

I've met several really great people here. I don't know almost any other vegans in real life, so this place feels like a community my daily life lacks. I feel reassured here, reaching out and seeing other people see things like I do.

3. Do you believe that the PPK has shaped the vegan community's collective identity?

Perhaps. The ppk is really the only vegan community I know.

4. How has the vegan community benefited from the expansion of online forums and social media?

Oh my gosh! So much more information is available now. Recipes, nutrition info, clothing info, political connections. And places like the ppk are critical to helping new vegans adapt to the new lifestyle, I think. I think it makes the whole vegan thing more accessible, especially to people living in very rural spots, like me.

5. What are some shared values of members of the PPK?

Generally speaking, we are left leaning, secular, non-PETA, welcoming, and skeptical of "woo".

1. What about the PPK specifically do you think has helped make it such a popular forum and online community for vegans?It's fun and mostly welcoming, and people here are mostly pretty knowledgeable about food, which is useful.

2. What role do you think the PPK community has had either in our own personal social life or for vegans in general?For me, personally, it hasn't made a difference to my social life. I've met a couple of PPKers in real life, but that was through something totally unrelated and it was really just coincidental. I gather that for some people it has been a big thing, though.

3. Do you believe that the PPK has shaped the vegan community's collective identity?I don't really consider myself part of the/a vegan community, so I couldn't say.

4. How has the vegan community benefited from the expansion of online forums and social media?Convenience! You can make connections with people all round the world as if it were nothing.

5. What are some shared values of members of the PPK?There's a strong Left-leaning culture on this board, fart jokes abound, forum subnicks mystify all but a few and everyone's very quick to remind posters that the internet is not your doctor (all of these are good).

_________________Moon - "This is the best recipe in the history of recipes forever."

For my composition class, I was assigned to write a brief essay about a specific discourse community, and I chose to focus on the online vegan community (the PPK specifically). I would really appreciate it if some of you would be able to answer a few questions and allow me to use your responses as sources for my research. If I do choose to use one of your responses as a reference, I will PM you because I will just need your full name for the essay citation. Thanks so much for your help, everyone!

Here are some questions that I am looking to address in my essay. Feel free to answer any/all of them:

1. What about the PPK specifically do you think has helped make it such a popular forum and online community for vegans?

Here, we have a sense that we'd probably like to have coffee with one another. I have seen wonderful, supportive behaviour with new folks, even if it takes a while to feel like you are not an outsider. Having the cookbooks as focus probably helps in that. [\color]

2. What role do you think the PPK community has had either in our own personal social life or for vegans in general?[color=#800040] personally, I needed a vegan board that wasn't dominated by AR bullies, but rather by the main focus day to day, food (and hidden ingredients). That helped me be kinder in personal interactions with omnivores.[\color]

3. Do you believe that the PPK has shaped the vegan community's collective identity?[color=#800040 I know a typical PPKer is different from the ranting vegan in the local vegetarian restaurant. Like the vegan food blogger movement, PPK allows foodies to flourish.[\color]

4. How has the vegan community benefited from the expansion of online forums and social media?[color=#804000]I think online interaction has created community in areas where there are not physical numbers of vegans. It has allowed sharing of information quickly, such as ingredient changes by prepared food makers, or meet ups in person, or sharing of new ways of thinking about vegan diet and lifestyle (such as raw vegan).

5. What are some shared values of members of the PPK?humor, passion about food, being silly online, posting typos in Isa's books..... Really, care for creatures, living our most authentic life, good food with good people, walking our talk, supporting people wanting to be vegan.